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Migraine associated with gastrointestinal disorders: A pathophysiological explanation
Majid Talafi Noghani1, Hasan Namdar1
1Department of Iranian Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
Medical Hypotheses
|March 24, 2019
Summary
Migraine and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders frequently co-occur. This study proposes that GI stimuli can trigger migraine attacks via neurogenic inflammation and histamine release, explaining their common comorbidity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gastroenterology
- Medical History
Background:
- Migraine is a prevalent and disabling neurological disorder.
- A high comorbidity exists between migraine and functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.
- Pathophysiological links between migraine and GI disorders are not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a pathophysiological explanation for the comorbidity of migraine and GI disorders.
- To integrate Persian Medicine insights with current scientific evidence.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing scientific literature.
- Analysis of Persian Medicine texts regarding headaches and GI complaints.
- Proposed neurobiological mechanisms linking GI stimuli to migraine.
Main Results:
- Noxious GI stimuli are relayed to the brainstem's nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS).
- The NTS is anatomically close to the trigeminal nucleus caudalis (TNC), involved in migraine pathophysiology.
- GI stimuli may reach the TNC, potentially causing neurogenic inflammation and migraine attacks.
Conclusions:
- GI tract stimuli can contribute to migraine attacks through neurogenic inflammation.
- Histamine release in the GI tract and subsequent systemic absorption may increase migraine susceptibility.
- This mechanism provides a potential explanation for the observed comorbidity between migraine and GI disorders.
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